Shloka 39
'योद्धाओ! अपने अस्त्र-शस्त्र शीघ्र नीचे डाल दो और सवारियोंसे उतर जाओ। परमात्मा नारायणने इस अस्त्रके निवारणके लिये यही उपाय निश्चित किया है ।। दविपाश्वस्यन्दने भ्यक्ष क्षितिं सर्वेडवरोहत । एवमेतन्न वो हन्यादस्त्र भूमौ निरायुधान्,“तुम सब लोग हाथी, घोड़े और रथोंसे उतरकर पृथ्वीपर आ जाओ। इस प्रकार भूमिपर निहत्थे खड़े हुए तुमलोगोंको यह अस्त्र नहीं मार सकेगा
sañjaya uvāca | yoddhāḥ svāny astrāṇi śastrāṇi kṣipraṃ nikṣipata vāhanebhyaś ca avarohata | paramātmā nārāyaṇo hy asyāstrasya nivāraṇāya evam upāyaṃ niścitavān | dvipāśva-syandane bhyaś ca kṣitiṃ sarve ’vavrohata | evam etan na vo hanyād astram bhūmau nirāyudhān ||
Sañjaya said: “O warriors, quickly cast down your weapons and dismount. The Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa has ordained this very means to counter this missile. All of you—get down from elephants, horses, and chariots and come onto the earth. Thus, standing on the ground unarmed, this weapon will not be able to strike you.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical and strategic principle: when a devastating weapon is unleashed, the safest and most dharmic recourse may be to renounce aggression—lay down arms and become visibly non-combatant—so that the weapon’s force (or its governing rule) cannot justly or effectively strike the unarmed.
Sañjaya reports an urgent instruction to the fighters: immediately drop weapons and dismount from elephants, horses, and chariots. This is presented as the remedy fixed by Nārāyaṇa to neutralize an incoming astra, since those standing on the ground without weapons will not be slain by it.